[ANIME] Buddy Daddies

  A parenting diary of assassin buddies?!

  Two assassin partners who never let their target get away somehow end up taking in a four-year-old girl. The hot and cool buddies start a family life with this cute, innocent girl.

  These assassins can handle any job with no problem, and yet, they find themselves struggling with this little girl. From feeding her to playing with her to taking her to and from nursery school, they're always rushing around. But no matter how crazy their life is, when they have a job, they can't turn it down. To further complicate things, the girl happens to be the secret love child of a heinous mafioso that they killed!

  Is it really possible to live as assassins and parents at the same time? Can this temporary family find happiness?

Tbh unexpected found family anime. It's been a while since I last watched anime. And I just started watching this for fun, because it promised to be not serious. And indeed it was. The overall mood was on the verge of being annoying, because just imagine a small kid that runs around and causes chaos, for those with a short fuse it's going to be something. But is still genuine and loving and beaming kid, so you won't get truly mad at Miri. Parenting is hard. Sending love to all the parents.

Their situation is peculiar and it's actually interesting to watch (like their profession and the situation itself are so conflicting, but no one does a deep dive into this), of course it goes not without some drama. Anime and without a drama in the last couple of episodes? Doesn't exist. I feel like anime always tries to raise some questions, which isn't a bad thing at all. When I finished watching my thoughts were - oh, we're adding depth here, okay.

From two assassins to struggling dads. Taking care of the kid is noisy, but also is happy. A redemption arc for two wondering souls that have their own past.

The only part that I had questions about was [SPOILERS] when Kazuki ran into the scene where Miri's mom was shot and the killer was still inside, the guy had a gun in his hand, but didn't shoot? Did I miss something? If he had no bullets he wouldn't take it out, but they're face to face and it's a dangerous situation and he just let himself be wounded and dominated like a punk. That scene looked really weird.[/]

PS: You might think it's gay ahahah because of the title, but it's not, they're just partners in work, nothing else, but modern day language really makes you think something when you see the word daddy lol.

[SHORT REVIEWS] #16

This time not much to share and mainly no good catches, because this time was not very productive in terms of searching, which made me feel so out of luck with books.

这个炮灰女配我不当了 by 甘米儿

(mtl: I don't want to be a female supporting role anymore)

[BG] On-going. Summary: There are always those supporting roles in the novel that are stupid and pester male protagonists and go against female protagonists, they have bad endings. Always. But one days these female supporting roles woke up.

I've read only 4 arcs, the last arc I was reading I started skipping like insane, because I was this bored. Let me explain. This novel has quite high ranking, but the premise which sounded interesting is now a mystery to me. At first I thought it involved different cannon fodders in different stories, but there are some ambiguous phrases that indicate that this is one person being reborn world after world.

The next point is how these worlds are connected, we have a "female protag", her name is Su Yue, but she's not our main girl, she comes from that Time Bureau, she got through connections and she passes one or two easiest worlds to become a salted fish at work. But each world now ended in failure and it will affect her traversing career. In each world the ex-cannon fodder awakes with memories of past or future (muddled settings) and they look at their life as if they wake up.

Although it might sound interesting, the execution is shitty in my opinion. This girl Su Yue might not appear at all for the longest of time, she relies only on "luck" and thinks that the protag will fall in love with her at first sight, which is not the case. She only pesters male protag for a bit before male protag is repulsed by her and she is offed by the system.

What is boring about the novel itself? Everything. There are no twists and turns, it's just everyday cookies, because FMC changes and suddenly she is better than before, especially skill-wise (sometimes it feels weird to be honest, like big convenience). Next thing is the male protag or suporting male role, depending on the situation, falls in love with FMC quite quickly, so they come together. Honestly the plots are quite stale, even if I sometimes like some easy stuff, but it did not evoke any interest in me. Also they are all "chronological", meaning they describe period from 80's, 90's and early 00's.

Overall impression is that when you want something this specific then you can read it, but if you seek entertainment, this will be a boring time to you.

臣女素来有病 by 诸葛扇

(mtl: This daughter has always been ill)

[BG] On-going. Summary: Ji Ping'An travelled through and her situation was dire. She is an orphan but with a big dowry. As a girl in ancient times she had no other choice but take refugee in the Song family. And soon the male protag will weave a net of love trap for her to make her a concubine and get all her ineritance, but will eventually use her money to overturn the empire and abandon her since she had no use anymore. Sighing at the situation Ping'An pulled her maid and created a sickly personality for herself who travels a lot, donates, saves people and created a great prestige. While doing this she searched for a proper husband to leave the Song family. After a long search she lied her eyes upon a taciturn hunter. He had nothing, so she won't need to live and serve mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law. 

She also complained to her maid about the "tyrant" in the book who will eventually be pulled down, the hunter listened. Who knew that the hunter is the infamous "tyrant".

Zhou Sheng got angry every time when he met with Ji Ping'An for treatment and wanted to screw her head off himself. But every time he stopped. but other suffered from his temper. After so many twists and turns he just kidnapped the girl and brought her back to the palace.

The premise of this story sounded fun, this is why I added it. Usually I avoid ancient novels, but I decided to try out this one. I haven't started it yet to get a glimpse. So we'll see if it's going to be good or bad.

一直快穿一直爽 by 五朵蘑菇

(mtl: Make yourself comfortable while transmigrating worlds)

[BG] Completed. I'm not going to even bother to make a summary for this one, because this happened to be an insane garbage. Basically FMC is aclled Bai Zhenzhen, she is a treverser with a system, plays the supporting role, but suddenly she is sent to a world and it had no system and no tasks, she knows the plot, but she is not restricted. So in the first world she is a rich adopted daughter (not true/fake ones), she was left with this family, because her own was reorganized, her parents are gone and her brother and uncle left to other country, leaving her behind for some reason. The settings in this story are just there, illogical, but no one dives into details, readers all comment how bad the settings are. Anyway and she is just a person who wants to spend her time well, thus she sticks to ML or anyone who can provide her basically, she does nothing by herself. ML grew up with her and suddenly had an idea about her, she actually used him for sex and then left as if it wasn't her. Just insane. Again MC without any redeeming qualities but people start feeling attracted to her or protect her, while she basically does nothing. Also has no bottom line and doesn't care. Have no liking for such MCs. I looked up what the second arc was about, a stepmother who tried to get with her stepson. Just ewe.

厌世美人重生后想开了 by 一笑书空

(mtl: World-weary beauty came to his sense after rebirth)

[BL] Completed (?) Hiatus. Summary: Lin Ling was adopted by the Wang family, but soon the Wang family had their own son, eventually Lin Ling was abused and only grandmother saved him. When he became an adult he joined entertainment industry to help grandma pay the medical bills and Wang family seeing his value again started to sucking blood. But incident after incident and Lin Ling was blackened on the net, the company ignored him and he was used by his bf and cousin. Everyone hated him left and right. As it seems he is a cannon fodder and the protag is Wang Siming, his cousin. He is reborn and soon will be the breaking point of his career, he stopped caring about family love or anything else. The only person who can still pull on his heart strings is Jian Ci.

I'd say it's pretty pretentious story. I feel sorry that author got sick during writing, but it's still a pretentious story with at least 30 paragraphs describing Lin Ling as a beauty, his face etc. Basially Lin Ling is like Kendrick, with bitch resting face, he "suffered" from it, because many like to create stories around half-truths. Lin Ling is insanely beautiful, but his face plays against him. Another thing like why create such a premise where Wang Siming is just a talentless dude that comes from an average family. The Wang family isn't rich at all, they only got into industry through Lin Ling. And he acted like a big shot, but he's a protag? Okay. His bf is also a useless scumbag who used his audition quota to become popular, but honestly garbage won't last long, this feels illogical. I hate such forced plots where everyone is shown like a brainless puppet. Jian Ci and Lin Ling married in last life and Jian Ci was the only one who helped him in hard times.

Anyway, a big pass.

还有这种好事儿？[快穿] by 兰桂

(mtl: Is there such a good thing?)

[BG] On-going. Summary: Shen Yunxuan was dealt a bad deck of cards in every life. She tried her best and others thought she was a winner in life. Now she returns to the beginning and is reborn, but there are always someone who wants to grab her bad life.

FMC is a bit pretentious to me, like a goodie two shoes, in general she always chants about how one should take step by step, avoid complacency etc. One can't deny that she tried her best in those lives, but she worked really hard for a chance to live peacefully.

What's the catch? Each rebirth is a new world, Shen Yunxuan is the only FMC, but next to her it's either a sister or a relative who wants to snatch her "good fate". These are stereotypical brainless women who think Yunxuan had a good fate and if they lie down and wait, they will reach the glory. But they always forget that they and Yunxuan are inherently different people. Also they only saw the surface, but they never saw what happened behid the scenes.

This part is what I especially liked. Everyone saw teh glory, but had no idea about the disputes and hardships that Yunxuan had to go through.

In the first arc her marriage was arranged to marry in order to repay the life saving grace. In previous life she worked hard in the husband's family with all those old rules that no one follows and other thought it was her husband who did the business, but it solely relied on Yunxuan. This time she married a wealthy person, but the reaction of the reborn girl made her pay attention to her new family, eventually she prevented a big accident and uncovered the conspiracy of this wealthy family. While the reborn girl lied and waited for her husband to start business and become a tycoon, yet no tycoon appeared. Yunxuan also had a love relationship with her husband, so she got the love she never had before.

In the second life Yunzuan worked hard as a stand-in and through some events had a chance to star in big movies and reach fame, she had a thorny path but it was worth it. While her roommate did not have the same glory and ended up mediocre, even though she started in a big production. Now she wanted to snatch the stand-in job (yeah I know, very "smart"). As it happened Yunxuan was talented in writing and she also had the business acumen from previous life and negotiated with producers and sponsors to retain the original plot that played a big role in ratings. She worked bit by bit to becoming a boss herself, while her roommate waited for opportunities that never came. 

Every life is a good change for Yunxuan, she doesn't need to work as hard, to seek love etc. She also has best partners in her lives who love her and she loves tem too. Her life is steady and she strives to achieve the good for others not only herself. in comparison to other novels that I'e read in this period I was quite satisfied with this one.

[Chinese BL novel] 豪门弃夫，重生虐渣 by 尚闲 / Abandoned by the wealthy family, he was reborn to abuse the scumbag

Summary: Jiang Yun spent all his sincerity on unworthy partner. He had no idea that his husband Yan Xi had a lover outside and all he saw in front of him was a veil of lie woven by the entire Yan family. He worked hard for the family, supported and restored one business after another, but did not receive any sincerity in return, but a devastating calculation that ruined his reputation, career he worked so hard for was used to pave the way for others and he was kicked out when husband finally got the approval of his mother to take the lover inside. And instead of peaceful divorce he was blamed to be coveting the Yan inheritance, his reputation was ruined and he went out not only without nothing, but with huge debts. No one in the Yan family felt sorry for him actually wasting his own money to support his husband's career and getting into debts. Only his family felt sorry for him, but such a blow was devastating to the health of his parents and he felt guilty for his stupidity.

And then Jiang Yun was reborn on the first day of his marriage. Remembering his young and naive self Jiang Yun sneered. Yan family? Okay. I will take back everything what belongs to him.

Note: This novel currently is still on-going. But a big chunk of the plot passed, and it feels like it's heading towards the ending.

I will start from the get-go and say. I'm not a huge fan of times when MCs make it their aim to make something they worked so hard for "their own". Because initially it may not belong to them, like in case of MC, those industries he was responsible for did not belong to him in a legal sense, he just worked hard to impress the Yan family. But in this life he decided to accept it as his own, grab things that should belong to him. Yet sometimes I just feel bad about this entanglement, like why use this exact way to play along. Because in many ways what he got as a reward for some things that happened was just a coincidence to me.

Tbh to me the main point should have been ruining Shen Yueling's reputation, who is his mother-in-law. She is the main perpetrator in deceiving him and using him and then discarding him.

The next target is Yan Xi himself. It wasn't intentional but the less trouble came from Jiang Yun, the more cooperative he was in the image of this perfect couple, the more guilty Yan Xi felt, thus it happened that Jiang Yun managed to also "abuse the scumbag".

So where do we start? Quite a spoilerish description of what happened.

The first night of their wedding. Jiang Yun is freshly reborn and doesn't care about Yan Xi attitude and proposal of writing a divorce agreement right now.

Also there is diversity from the original summary to this novel, he did not cover up for his husband, he acted like he had no idea about his husband's infidelity.

Now he sees the true natures of the people with naked eye and doesn't bother with Yan Xi. Instead Yan Xi feels guilty. His guilt will grow in progression later.

So Yan Xi is happy with his lover Lin Yi and does not realize that Lin Yi intentionally hooked up with him, although he says he needs nothing, he is the most greedy of all and he will show his fangs. But right not to separate the two, Shen Yueling banned Lin Yi from the industry and Lin Yi went to his hometown, to lay low.

The relationships in this book aren't complicated, but they are as follows:

Shen Yueling acted like a good-natured lady and married Mr Yan, next she showed her true character,w hich is hypocritical and very profit-oriented, she seeks power. She gave birth to 3 children. Eldest daughter Yan Qingya, son Yan Xi and youngest son Yan Chi. I honestly thought there were only two when suddenly the plot thre Qingya in. Qingya is like a wealthy lady that studies design and will go to her mother's company T&M. Yan Xi is a young man with "promising" future but he's not that smart tbh, now his position and money are revoked due to his relationship with Lin Yi, who worked as his assistant. Yan Chi is the youngest and parents did not care about him much, so he developed a rebellious temperament, while he's still just a teen.

Mr Yan had a lover and illegitimate son outside, because Shen Yueling was involved and it is heavily hinted she is involved in the mistress' death, Mr Yan had no evidence, but his hate for Shen Yueling was real, thus his attitude towards his children was mediocre too, especially Yan Chi suffered the most since he was young when the conflict of his parents broke out.

Now Jiang Yun comes into this mess. Everyon around him knows about Yan Xi's infidelity, but all stay silent about it. Especially Shen Yueling, she is all seeking profit and she was the one who promoted the couple everywhere, just to make them wear her brand and promote her brand. In previous life Jiang Yun worked for free, since it's family, but now he refused to be under Shen Yueling, this unscrupulous bitch, who used him to the max and then left the company to her daughter and chased him out.

The two indeed become popular on the network, but for Jiang Yun it will be handy, since the more popular you are, the more striking the upcoming scandals will be.

Jiang Yun played Shen Yueling's game, the love to rule the public opinion.

As a result, once he was given the old winery, now he owned it completely, before he worked in this winery out of the obligation in front of his "family". He chased away all the blood-sucking family from Shen Yueling's side and framed it in a way that he will have all the reason to do it - it's not me, it's them who steal and fake the accounts.

The winery became his and he used his own experience to make it better.

With time you see how Jiang Yun often plays along with their requests of appearing in public, play along, but he does not want to be bound by any contracts and all the bills should be paid, he won't do it for free.

Others thought he was good and true noble master, while Yan Xi continued to feel guilty, but also did not leave his lover.

The problems started when his lover became restless.

At first Lin Yi sent his own brother to be a driver. But Jiang Yun who played along easily framed this brother and sent him in. Next thing others figured out this driver's identity and of course misunderstanding caused Jiang Yun receive another compensation.

Next Lin Yi couldn't believe in Yan Xi's words and decided to come himself, as a result they were soon discovered by the family.

But now Yan Xi indeed slowly started to see good sides in Jiang Yun, his nobility, there were times when his identity helped. Thinking of Lin Yi who could only care about him in everyday life, but did not bring any benefits the difference was striking. But he still couldn't help himsef, every time they met with Lin Yi, they ended in bed (he was actually drugged and had no idea).

Lin Yi drugged Yan Xi as it happened as a matter of retreat, he took several indecent videos as means to back himself up. After all Yan Xi did not provide him even if they spent so much time together, he got nothing. Although from reader's perspective he actually always claimed he did nothing and drew this image for himself, so thinking one should provide him without no end in sight is kinda weird.

Yan Xi indeed tried to break their relationship not once, after the final one Lin Yi disappeared and the next thing he did was to blackmail Mr Yan during important party and the second time he blackmailed Yan Xi himself.

This situation involved a lot of things.

There is a lot of action and consequences sequences in this novel, like one thing triggered another. But partially it felt like a play.

It came to the point where for one things as apology Jiang Yun got Yan's shares and later he divorced and got another chunk of shares.

This started the online battle of opinions, since Shen Yueling did not believe in good of Jiang Yun, he used him, but also didn't want to give him anything. She could play along and say - I treat you like a son, but the next thing she does is to pay trolls to blacken him on the internet.

The story I'm currently reading reached the point where Jiang Yun lived for 6 months in this unhappy marriage, got things he wanted and divorced and the online trolling started, now he plans to pay back.

Now a bit of roll back to Jiang family, they are a family of literati, Jiang Yun liked Yan Xi from beginning, but was misled into thinking Yan Xi had no one. But Jiang family is an elegant family and they have their own industries to take care of, so even without Yan family he could make do.

But Jiang family helped the Zhou family, family of Jiang Yun's mom. They provided her mother, who lived with them. But old Mrs Zhou always preferred the family of her brother, who basically sucked blood from Jiang family for years. Only when Jiang Yun asked his cousin Zhou Ye to take grandma away did Mrs Zhou finally felt on herself the deep difference between the families and Zhou Ye's entirely fake attitude.

But Jiang Yun is filial, when he knew grandma was treated badly he took her back.

Because of his previous life he was most concerned about his parents, since they were the ones who provided him, even if he spent almost entire fortune to fill the gap for Yan Xi in previous life, in the end even the Zhou mom's brother turned away from them and did not help and they were in poverty, with debts and could not turn over.

Although Jiang Yun says like in his heart he gave the Zhou famly another chance, but it doesn't feel like that at all. And the Zhou family never deserved the good treatment, they sucked blood and at first call the betrayed Jiang family, even in previous life too, thus Jiang Yun's reputation was so easily destroyed.

Now they betrayed him again and he will reveal their faces.

Now we turn to ML of this story.

The ML is called Sheng Yan, he comes from a very wealthy family and is the king of investment. He and Jiang Yun knew each other in the previous life, Sheng Yan always acted quite frivolously and when Jiang Yun wanted to establish relations Sheng Yan told him that his spouse does not deserve his dedication. Jiang Yun was offended, both by words and actions and they never got closer. Now as the time progressed they came to know each other by accident and Sheng Yan openly expressed his sudden love and asked Jiang Yun when he will divorce. As if he knew about Jiang Yun more than he could imagine.

But Jiang Yun was not moved at first, he was hurt and Sheng Yan's frivolous attitude also did not bring him joy, he did not want to be played again.

But behind his attitude Sheng Yan bears a trauma and does not allow anyone to be close to him, and Jiang Yun became an exception and obsession.

Eventually Jiang Yun felt the sincerity and decided to be together no matter the consequences, if he will put his heart and make a mistake again, it will be on him. I actually liked this part, because even if you was hurt once it's good to have the ability to love again and look openly at the future relationship.

So throughout the story Sheng Yan helped Jiang Yun not once and flirted along the way, trying to wooing Jiang Yun, eventually it did happen.

Partially they are indeed a complementary couple to each other.

It was entertaining enough, I'll finish it when it fully comes out. I think the obvious criticism would be the blatant convenience of how things move and in which direction and I also feel like the situation in previous life could be not so irreversible.

The other part is that it feels like the novel better stop anytime soon, there was enough of content to showcase who is who, involve several twists and turns and also get the MC a man he deserves.

RATE: 3,75/5.

[Chinese BL novel] 真少爷养崽去了 by 半盏茗香 / Real young master is raising a cub

Summary: (mpreg) Being plotted against and being saved in a span of a short time, Jin Ci indulged himself with Ji Xun. After the night, not to be awkward, Jin Ci decided that the night happened, but it shouldn't become something significant. Only months later he realized that he is bearing a child, but actually he was happy for the arrival of this small life, he finally will have a family of his own.

This is a story of a fake and real young masters, but without any awakenings to book plots or rebirths. Jin Ci lived quite a life and was asked to drop out to earn money when he was a teenager, in the end he was sponsored and became independent early. He opened his own studio with a friend and had some success because of his talent. Many things happened with the help of his sponsor to whom he wrote letters from time to time, it was his spiritual support. But then he was found by his biological parents and everyone acted like they want Jin Ci to integrate, but time and time again he was asked to swallow his grievances and step back to make way for the fake young master who is supposed to be sickly.

No one in the family felt the sinister nature of the fake young master and it seemed like he didn't show his tail, just acted like obnoxious person too many times, hiding behind innocence.

While crossing yet another day on the calendar Jin Ci was waiting.

The story starts from the banquet. This is the evening when Jin Ci was plotted against, while his parents were called off once again that Jin Kai had a fever or anything of that sort which happened quite often. So they left without even suspecting that their son was in danger. Being saved by Ji Xun who also had a similar experience, although he tried to hold on, but the call of Jin Ci and agreement to what can happen allowed him to indulge.

You can feel right away that something is going on. Later on, it becomes evident that Ji Xun basically circles around Jin Ci and waits.

After that night they parted ways and acted like adults. But the plotting should be investigated.

From then on from time to time Jin Ci started to see Ji Xun here and there, when they went campping on the mountain and were caught in the rain, when Jin Ci was graduating (his family again was caught with troublesome Jin Kai) and Ji Xun came as a representative. By the way he solved several of Jin Ci's problems. First, the stalking admirer whom Jin Ci rejected (he was the one who drugged the wine), along with him was Jin Ci's former classmate with whom they had a lawsuit and Jin Ci sued for defamation. This person was parachuted in the company of this stalker, while the stalker himself was part of Jin Kai's group. Who asked whom was evident for these people, but surely not for biological parents, who acted oblivious. The defamation started from Jin Ci rejecting a girl and she was friends with Jin Kai, so she spread rumors that Jin Ci is gay, then that classmate appeared and the rumors spread far and wide, which would not happen without fanning the flames, but his parents refused to hold the girl accountable, since they had business dealings with that family. So to them family business was higher than the dignity of their own child.

During this time Jin Ci started to feel sick, but he had work to do and delayed the visit to the doctor. Coincidentally he was noticed by Ji Xun, who took him to a private hospital and the doctor he knew did some tests but they showed unpredictable results, as if Jin Ci was pregnant (I liked this part, because after they did blood tests the doctor did not jump to conclusions but asked for more tests). Eventually they did ultrasound which showed that Jin Ci's body is different, he can bear children and he is indeed pregnant.

Ji Xun as the other father offers Jin Ci a deal, they will get married and he will have all legal rights to protect Jin Ci, will provide him with most secure environment to raise the child. Jin Ci who was already ready to leave the Jin family agreed.

Ji Xun's reason for marriage was quite pale, because he was the head of the family and Ji family belonged to him, but his parents were not around and his grandfather left too, what was left was his second wife (?) and her children, so she wanted to usurp the Ji family. But Ji Xun is not an easy target, he basically sent all those who did illegal things to play behind bars. But as an elder in the family the grandma decided to "consult" the Taoist priest who said that Ji's fate is too strong and he has to marry a man. Ji Xun used this ridiculous situation to his advantage, because no one knew that for many years he was holding someone dear to his heart. He wanted to get close to Jin Ci and warm his heart, to fall in love and protect this precious person for the rest of his life. He did not say that he was Jin Ci's sponsor for this exact reason, he wanted Jin Ci to fall in love with himself for no other reason.

The two of them were truly compatible in life and Jin Ci for the first time felt such care and love that came from the heart. Although others felt that the two just rushed this relationship like in flash marriage, Jin Ci knew that the year he gave his parents is about to end. He crossed each day on the calendar with his hope getting smaller and smaller and finally the small light of it that barely flickered went out. Now he moved on and moved out and lived with Ji Xun raising their child with the hopes that at least this child will be his closest relative whom he can love. In the end he not only found a family but love.

/!~SPOILERS~!/

Because I've read like 3 books about fake and true young masters one after another they kinda mixed together in my head, so I try to point out things that I'm sure of.

As I said this novel is different because we don't know the plot, true young master is uncharacteristically not some country bumpkin as they like to portray, but lived a hard life, he was a premature child after all.

He gave his parents a year, but he did not announce it, he was just silently observing his family's actions. He did not fight and did not do anything, although Jin Kai did many despicable moves in his opinion. Like because Jin Ci loves flowers he brought some, but Jin Kai seems to be allergic, but it doesn't mean he can't grow in his own room, yet entire villa lacked real flowers. Jin Kai even gave him fake flowers instead, others saw it as kindness. He intercepted his letters from his sponsor, also sold the painting he drew for his sponsor. Was directly connected to rumors that spread around Jin Ci. Later it was revealed that he bribed older brother's secretary who was responsible for investigation, so the most crucial information was concealed. Then he bribed the attending doctor so that one would say that his health needs more care. He used his own life and digested allergy-inducing medicine so often time his aprents will miss Jin Ci's special events , like graduation. Basically Jin Kai lied here and there, obvious things happened to stir trouble and wait for Jin Ci's reaction, but it felt no one noticed or wrote it off as Jin Kai's "innocence" and "ignorance", while this person was the most vicious.

And even if Ji Xun revealed the truth in front of Jin parents, for parents it was too late to patch up things that were already destroyed, they hurt their own child too many times and have no right to interfere. From that point their relationship was only on the surface, no one disowned anyone, they just lived separately and didn't interact.

/~/

It was a quite fine novel, despite being mpreg. At least simply because it took such a turn on the fake and true young masters trope. After all the two othe rnovels I read with this one had quite a few similar things happening, while here we don't get that tone of cliche I've seen a lot.

So plot-wise and character-wise it was quite fine :)

RATE: 4/5.

[NOVEL] Book Lovers by Emily Henry

    Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

    Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

    If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

If Funny Story made me want to read Emily Henry, then Book Lovers made me reconsider this eagerness.

I'd say the book started very promising, interesting premise, almost curse-like situation of being dumped for those small town ladies that are somehow so better and able to transform people, that Nora's men choose to leave the city life and move to chase love. And there is also Charlie Lastra, the infamous editor she had a deal with, but it fell through and the moment they had left a special taste of mutual irritation (alost like I admit you're hot as hell, but you're irritating you know).

We skip to two years later, the curse of being dumped continues, but above all else Nora will choose her career and herself for a reason. And that is something to do with her sister Libby and their past.

Note: I think it was wrong to choose the word 'Sissy' for Libby to use as address for her sister, it sounds bad and also sounds same as deragotory term to describe feminine men.

Nora, it feels, almost has a sister complex and also as if her life revolves around her sister instead of her own. Ironically, she doesn't want to let other men in and control her life, but Libby basically controls hers in a roundabout way. And the moment I saw it I thought it's not going to end good, because such thing is ruinous for oneself emotionally.

I thought they were young, but Nora is 32 and Libby is a mother of two (third on the way) and it would be logical for her to let Libby live her own life. But it felt like both haven't grown up much and their way of thinking is kind of stuck on the past. Especially Nora. I thought that time made them loose a bit, but with Nora it almost felt opposite.

This is why even if Nora has work to do even during the most uneventful publishing month of August, she agrees to her sister's plan for a trip. Basically "we feel like we're drifting apart, I want to have a chance to fix it" and "everything to make her happy". And this is why they travel to the small town out of the book with a checklist to do.

And although here is where we meet Charlie Lastra for some reason. And they make you laugh with their banter on the verge of flirting. But from her things started to get tedious for me.

Especially the situation and revelation. Some of the "problems" that are described feel like they were maxed out to feel critical. And also the situation at the end felt like author describes it almost as the world is coming to an end.

Nora's situation is real, although it's a bad example. 

So here's the backstory with spoilers.

Their mother came to NY to be an actress, but when she was pregnant with Libby her "boyfriend" who was not ready for kids left her. All her next boyfriends didn't share the responsibility but their mom was a hopeless romantic. So she brought up the two herself no matter how hard it was. It made Nora cherish her mom, Libby and their world of wonders in NY she loves so much.

But then she fell in love for the first time and the moment she was "needed" she wasn't there for her family. To be precise the day her mother died and her sister was calling her, she was too occupied in happinness and her phone was off. When she find out you can imagine the amount of shock and guilt that built up after that. Her first love left after a while for a small town where he found "someone". But Nora was left with her sister and life of uncertainty. This is why she has all those small habits, phone always charged, always on max volume when she falls asleep. Her life of constant worry and the fact that Libby was smaller but also a mess which didn't help, but added to her worries and growing paranoia.

Yes, this is paranoia, fear of losing someone close to you when you're not there for them, but the cruel truth is it may happen, you can't control it even if you want to.

Partially this is why I think she allowed Libby to be more free-wheeling, although for two young girls it's hard for one to drag them both along.

Money, stability. Those were the aspirations.

Although it did hit me that Libby and her husband, despite deep love for each other, were too young. Nora could describe her sister as wonderful as she wanted, she didn't strike me as such anyway. And Libby despite becoming a mother did strike me as a tad bit irresponsible. Maybe she felt that her sister is always behind her. But job hopping and getting more kids despite a strainous financial situation. Everybody lives their life as they want, but just think things through sometimes.

Maybe this is why I had a bit of a negative way towards her, especially knowing her reason behind the travel Libby (which was a pure selfish move imo). Maybe she feels that her sister is the best and she loves her sister a lot, but it just felt wrong. Libby's talk as "you sacrificed so much for me" etc. feels like talk and nothing more. Through tears and snot she will still choose her life, because that's her life. It just felt weird, like she knows her sister for sure and knows her character, but somehow managed to add so much stress to her for a month before revealing that from now on they will live in two different places. And the trip was mostly to woo her sister to come along. This is why I say it's a selfish move. It's contradicting like she doesn't want her sister to accomodate and mom her, but at the same time tries to woo her into this small town.

On top of that Libby managed to be a disposable background character that has nothing to her except being a mom, living like the best girl in Nora's head and sometimes do the Puss in Boots starry eyes.

This paranoia and inability to communicate was hanging between the two for entirety of the trip, made Nora to think all types of plots and nothing made her feel better, I think she felt like a nervous wreck.

But this feeling of paranoia and being trapped and unable to do anything and the cycle of her memories of herself, Libby and their mother were like on repeat and this is why I say it felt tedious. because it felt like running in circle, but for too long. I didn't find the need to stretch it to almost 400 pages for this.

Next thing is the relationship with Charlie Lastra. While Nora is the literally agent, he is an editor. Both are known in their circle. After rekindeling their communication their chat almost felt like flirting, banter was good, but also felt like it's fast for the two. Although they feel like they're not for each other and nothing good will come out of it and all that jazz, but at the same time no one feels as right.

This trip allows them to be in the proximity of each other and slowly find more about they truly are.

Charlie shares a bit of a tragic backstory, but honestly it felt flat. Because Nora was always in her stress it was easy to feel for her, but because Charlie's life was described quite plainly and shortly I felt like he deserved a bit more as MMC.

But because Charlie was very much like Nora in spirit it was easy to portray him and he also was the only person who appreciated her as her true self. He was the right person for her.

Note: The only thing I felt weird about is the use of 'fucking' (adj.). Like "you're fucking amazing" or "you're fucking deserve it" something along those lines. I don't wait too much from an editor, but he didn't strike me as such a person from description. I honestly felt that no sky won't fall down if no one will cuss. This honestly threw me off not once in their dialogues.

And as for the conflict. Again, description-wise it felt like the world was ending. But in general Nora was heading back home, while Libby, who wanted to woo Nora to live here was staying. She couldn't bring herself to talk about future and plans earlier. Honestly, I couldn't get it, why not talk. Why not say - sis, the life is getting hard and we think of moving to a place that will be easier for us (after all NY is an expensive city to live in), so our plans are as follows. There would be tears and separations, but it would be a big stretch to ask one person to live for another.

Same with Charlie. Charlie stays because of his father's condition and Nora leaves because she is teh city person, she wants her dream job and needs life for herself. So it felt heartbreaking, but in the back of your hand you knew, give the a couple of months and they'll be together, because someone will say the right thing. Charlie's situation wasn't a big deal to me, like his mother's bookstore was declining, father had a stroke, he could come, wait for the right time and arrange everything when things will go right and his parents might accept it. Good thing that the ending ruled out even better, making Libby look after the bookstore as part of the family and Charlie being able to leave to be with the woman he loves since his parents told him "we are the parents", not him.

From one side the book was good. The style is easy, so I read it almost in one sitting. The idea of them being like this as a setting. Some problems in life to solve. But from another side I was sitting and thinking - when will this end?

Some may prefer this, I preferred Funny Story because it was breezier.

It makes me believe that contemporray romance, the modern one, does not exist without FMCs and MMCs who have no problems. When sometimes I just want things to be romancing. I don't want to get too sad or too depressed when certain topics are brought up in the book.

RATE: 3,5/5. 

[SHORT REVIEWS] #15

Not much this time, but I'd say it's a good catch? Or at least promising :)

First two novels are by Green Plum Sauce (青梅酱), NU has mostly their e-sports novels, such as "The E-Sports Circle’s Toxic Assembly Camp (电竞魔王集结营)", but they don't have the novels I found by accident. 

Note: They have some really bombastic covers.

我，污染值爆表 by 青梅酱

(mtl: My pollution level is off charts)

[BL] On-going. Summary: Former Supreme Executive is said to have died in line of duty, but Lin Xi, who is now reborn in new absolutely reconstructed body knows better, when he swallowed the highest pollutant, people from his own office conspired to wipe him out. There was only one person who rushed towards him when he was engulfed in flames.

Three years have passed since that day. Now in this new body and a strange entity in his head that keeps on talking, he wants to figure out what happened, but the start was bumpy.

And he meets a person from the past, Yan Xingzhou, who now separated himself from the Joint Office, but still takes part in eradication of pollutants when he's needed, but no one knows that this person keeps on waiting, waiting for one person.

The premise of this novel is quite intriguing. From a certain point in time cracks that released monsters (mtl: pollutants) appeared in the cities. They're like a parasytic form that occupies humans and if not annihilated it may evolve into a stronger monster. As a result some people awakened superpowers. Those people have numbered IDs, but also letters before their ID number. It's already an achievement to have only one letter in front of ID, indicating your superpower, but it's rare to have two, even more rare is to have letter 'X', unique superpower. Yan Xingzhou is the one. Lin Xi was the one too.

I've read a little bit and it is quite intriguing. There is a backstory of who and why decided to wipe Lin Xi, Lin Xi now feels like he has no pollution whatsoever, though he has this thing in his head and also was found near the crack. Yan Xingzhou is ML and was waiting for MC with only tiny hope that feels like it will never happen.

PS: MC in the novel looks exactly like the cover, with read hair and different-colored eyes.

我能RUA你的精神体吗 by 青梅酱

(mtl: Can I rub your spirit body?)

[BL] Completed. Summary: Interstellar era. Sentinels and guides join the military,  the two parties were always at odds, even the whole towers they belonged to, East and West respectively, acted like opponents. But the two most prominent figures from new recruits were sentinel Li Zhuang and guide Qi Yan, not because of anything, but they were too overpowering that it made others cry.

I'd say they acted almost flirty when they confronted each other from the beginning, both were super strong, so it was hard for them to find opponents and they saw such opponents in each other. While others were scared of them, they pushed their own limits.

A promising story, don't know if the stakes are high or no, but they're young and energetic. Even if they're OP, it doesn't really take away from the novel.

真少爷放飞自我后[重生] by 日光融融

(mtl: Real young master decided to let himself go)

[BL] On-going.  Summary: Wei Tinglan was reborn. In his last life he spent too much time on trying to get close to his family and relatives when he was brought back in high school. But what met him wasn't a warm family, but a family that liked their now adopted son Tao Chen who they consider the kindest child on earth, loved by everyone. Wei Tinglan wasted too much of his precious life on hatred, jealousy and just the feeling of injustice. Why someone who stole his life for many years still enjoys family affection while he struggles to get some crumbs of it. After rebirth he decided not to care about the opinion of his hateful parents and siblings. And especially Tao Chen. Family is not people related by blood, it can also be someone who honestly loves you and cares for you.

He also wants to accompany the one person who tried to save him when his life ended, Wei Chuan.

Although the premise is old, there's a ton of those stories about real and fake young masters, but I loved the writing style and delivery, so it's not brain-dead (only dumb people are the Tao family I guess, and those in love with Tao Chen), but feels quite good. Also there aren't many to me where MCs let themself go and oppose their biological parents and others, they don't mind coming off as rude or anything like that. Wei Tinglan basically sold Tao Chen's place in teh family for money, because to him money meant more than something he can't get. He figured that Tao Chen is actually a green tea, but was baffled why others couldn't see it. He also wanted to stay away from Tao Chen's group, especially Tao Chen's fiance, who actually ruined his career when he decided to cut off ties with Tao family and do his own thing in entertainment industry.

He also meets Wei Chuan by accident, he has affinity towards the person because of his act of goodness and is happy when they could become friends. Wei Chuan is the ML of the story, but I must say from the start he has quite a chemistry with another character, not neccessarily romanitc.

So I'm quite optimistic about it, even if it's very fresh.

[NOVEL] Funny Story by Emily Henry

    Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

    Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

    Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

    But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

It feels like, if you want to read popular modern contemporary romance, you got to put Emily Henry on the list.

I can't compare this book to others from Emily Henry because it's my first, but for what it is I quite liked it.

The overall short impression would be that her style is really easy (I finished the book in a day), the story might seem to have no direction, but it also feels that the relationship development is the anchor. I may not have giggled like others, but I indeed smiled at their dialogues, because they felt quite organic and natural. For example, characters may do sound awkward, but this I find awkward in a situation, not awkward to read about, not everyone has ability to jab back verbally with the best answer, we also have times like that :) Also her characters might have their own vulnerabilities, but those don't feel overpowering, even if they have influence on their actions. It felt more like everyone has a story, but not issues. This story indeed shaped us as people.

And don't judge others if they're older, but they have a baggage, some things we don't notice that stay with us that don't change.

Also when I read something contemporary, I never go strong with "this can't happen", because who are we to know what can and can't happen. I've heard too many real life funny stories to know many things you don't expect can happen, because other people are not you.

And while my neighbors are drilling in attempts of repair or destruction, I'll try to put out few crumbs of my thoughts on this relationship.

No effing way.. two drills. Honestly what the fuck XD

Anyway.

Because to me the romance was romancing and the relationship development felt like it was the center of it, I'd drop few words about it.

Daphne and Miles ended up in a shity situation, both are dumped by people they loved, but in the moment of get back at those who hurt her Daphne ends up lying that she and Miles got together. Although she feel remorseful, it's great that Miles is a goop sport and did not get angry at the idea. 

Before that they were just two strangers that lived at the same place, due to Miles initiative to show her that this place is worth more and she should live her own life and see places that were out of her reach during her relationship with her ex. 

I'd thought we were building something permanent together. Now I realize I'd just been slotting myself into his life, leaving me without my own.

For three years I’ve been eating like him, exercising like him, working tirelessly to befriend his friends and impress his family, going to his favorite breweries, and all along I thought it was my idea, my life. Only now, without him in the picture, absolutely none of the rest of the picture makes sense. 

This started their Sunday outings, but because of them they grew closer and opened up to each other. But now the door opened and can't be closed. They begin to know each other more and since we only have FMC's pov we know she has a moment when she realized she is attracted to him. More physically, but later emotionally. It's a bit of a tug because to her Miles became more than just potential hookup partner (one hookup did happen), he became a support and a friend and ruining it all with relationship that at that time for her had no future was a cruel thing to do. She cared too much for him. He was there for her.

But the attraction was too great, the person irresistable and their attempts at getting back at their exes made her feel shitty, like she's a tool. At least they knew how to talk about it and she found that he was not as calm as he showed, he wanted her, but there are things that pulled him down. Everyone has a story. Everyone has their fears.

Spoilers: The core of her troubles and mostly the trigger of the final conflict, was the visit from her dad who passed by. Daphne lived with her mom after parents divorce. They moved a lot, so she did not build strong friendships, she knew those will fade away. And she had a long list of moments of her waiting for her father and realizing that she wasn't a priority. He might appear from time to time, butter up, so it made it hard not to forgive and hope for something, only for your hopes to shatter. Because of her being self-conscious, her confidence was low and she also felt that her fiance left her for hotter and more adept woman, and because Petra is also Miles' ex, he might also still have feelings for her (he called her love of his life). She always felt that she will be the one left behind, not the top priority. So when the moment of misunderstanding came, it felt like - yeah, sure, I was expecting that. But that moment was not how it was, she just had such a bad story that she brainwashed herself into these things and failed to see beyond and panicked. At least it wasn't late to turn back. And she got her happy ending.

The novel has no bigger conflict actually, it's quite calm to me, but when you reach this quote, you might get the idea why it was like that, because FMC many times emphasized on these things herself, for her it was fitting to live in a plot like that.

All those moments throughout the days, weeks, months that don't get marked on calendars with hand-drawn stars or little stickers.

Those are the moments that make a life.

Not grand gestures, but mundane details that, over time, accumulate until you have a home, instead of a house.

All in all I find that the relationship was quite good, the tension and build-up, the friendship and love. All was mixed together. I enjoyed it.

RATE: 4,5/5.